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Czajkowski, A-ML and Greasley, AE (2015) Mindfulness for singers: The effects of a targeted mindfulness course on learning vocal technique. British Journal of Music Education, 32 (2). 211 - 233. ISSN 0265-0517

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051715000145

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Mindfulness for Singers: The effects of a targeted mindfulness course on

learning vocal technique.

Keywords: Mindfulness, Singers, Education, Vocal Technique, Performance, FFMQ

Abstract

This paper reports the development and implementation of a unique Mindfulness for

Singers (MfS) course designed to improve singers’ vocal technique. Eight university

students completed the intervention. FFMQ scores showed general improvement

across all five facets of mindfulness. Qualitative results showed benefits of daily

mindfulness exercises on breathing, micro-muscular awareness, vocal tone, text

communication and problem solving. Exercises also positively affected teacher/pupil

relationships, concentration and focus in lessons and practice. Teachers identified 6 of

the 8 participants in a blind controlled study indicating that vocal students at any level

would benefit greatly from a mindfulness course as a holistic intervention.

  2 

Introduction

Meditation, in different forms, has been a common feature of many religions over the

course of human history. However, it is only in the last few decades that a secular

form of the Buddhist ‘mindfulness’ meditation has been developed and its effects

researched by scholars from a variety of fields (Esch, 2014; Rerup & Levinthal,

2014). The secular practice embodies two of the religious forms: ‘samatha’ or ‘calm’

meditation and ‘vipassana’ or ‘insight or discernment’ meditation. ‘Samatha’

encourages focused concentration and ‘vipassana’ widens awareness to encompass

bodily sensations or worldly stimuli. Breath awareness is a core practice to both forms

(Burnett, 2009). Jon Kabat-Zinn, a molecular biologist and practising meditator

developed the first secular course called the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

scheme (MBSR) in 1979 for patients that he saw attempting to deal with chronic

depression, anxiety and stress. Transferring a transcendental religious practice into a

secular learnable principle to be researched in scientific terms has engendered its own

research which has covered methods of defining (Bishop et al., 2004), developing and

testing Likert type scales and measures (Baer, 2003; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Feldman,

Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, & Laurenceau, 2007) and imparting mindfulness through a

variety of courses and targeted interventions (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007).

The largest amount of research on secular mindfulness has been performed in the

clinical domain where meta-analytical techniques have demonstrated its efficacy in

a wide variety of conditions. For example, Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt and Walach

(2004) found that MBSR courses significantly helped a large range of individuals

with a wide variety of clinical complaints such as pain, heart disease and cancer.

Another meta-analysis of 39 mindfulness-based studies (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, &

Oh, 2010) found the interventions had promising effects in the areas of anxiety,

  3 

depression and psychiatric disorders. Other areas of mindfulness research include the

business community (Giluk, 2010; Langer, 2010), sport (Kaufman, Glass, & Arnkoff,

2009; Moore, 2009) and increasingly the field of education (Frank, Jennings, &

Greenberg, 2013; Hennelly, 2011). With regards to the latter, recent philosophical

enquiry has explored spirituality (as opposed to religion) as a basis for music

educational practices (Mell, 2010; Palmer, 2010; Sarath, 2013). In seeking to

transform education into an inclusive, holistic and integrative structure (an education

of the whole student), music education is seen as a lens through which to explore

spirituality, world culture and the nature of transcendence. Spirituality is also being

explored through contemplative, holistic and mindfulness studies in schools and by

initiatives such as the Centre for Contemplative Mind (CCMS, 2014) and Spirituality

and Music Education (SAME, 2014). Palmer (2006) proposes a three-fold method by

which spirituality can be experienced in music: mental preparation by meditation;

skill development and practice; and being aware of the ability to engage in musical

events. The current study explores the effects of meditation in Palmer’s second area,

that of skill development and practice.

Definition and measurement of mindfulness

A regularly cited definition of mindfulness is that “mindfulness means paying

attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and

nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p.4). Kabat-Zinn’s definition seems to have

persisted over any other definition because of the simple, yet encompassing

terminology as well as the volume of research that has used his course, or variants of,

as the interventional training. This project, which employs an adaptation of the MBSR

course devised by Kabat-Zinn, uses his definition for this research.

  4 

Various methods have been devised to measure mindfulness as a trait, state

and as an intervention. Neurological investigations are one such method; studies using

positron emission tomography (PET), electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional

magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have highlighted neurological changes in those

who have undergone mindfulness training (Goldin & Gross, 2010; Ives-Deliperi,

Solms, & Meintjes, 2011). The largest body of research uses self-report measures

such as the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004),

the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI; Buchheld, Grossman, & Walach, 2001)

and the Mindfulness Awareness and Attention Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003).

A key measure is the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (Baer, Smith, Hopkins,

Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006) which was constructed from a factor analysis of five

different mindfulness questionnaires1. The FFMQ consists of 39 statements

investigating five elements of mindfulness (“observing”, “describing”, “acting with

awareness”, “accepting without judgment” and “non-reacting”). The FFMQ has been

shown to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Lilja et al., 2011;

Veehof, ten Klooster, Taal, Westerhof, & Bohlmeijer, 2011) and has been used in

a range of mindfulness studies comprising large numbers of participants (Cowdrey &

Park, 2012; Thompson & Waltz, 2010; Veehof, Oskam, Schreurs, & Bohlmeijer,

2011). It has also been used to great effect in more small-scale research. For example,

Lovas and Barsky (2010) investigated the benefits of an 8-week Mindfulness Based

Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course on 10 participants with hypochondriasis (a severe

health anxiety disorder); significant improvements were reported in the areas of health

anxiety, somatic symptoms and mindfulness, both immediately after the intervention

and at the 3-month follow-up. Another pilot study (Uebelacker et al., 2010)

investigated 10 participants with depression who had responded inadequately to

  5 

medication and subsequently took part in a Vinyasa Yoga course. Vinyasa Yoga,

although not a derivation of an MBSR or MBCT course, is practised with heavy

emphasis on Eastern mindfulness techniques such as breathing and present moment

awareness. Findings showed a significant increase in mindfulness and a decrease in

depression at post-test. Of most relevance to the current study were participants’

comments on the meditational (or mindfulness practice) aspects of the course;

participants were positive about the course’s focus on breathing but less positive

about the philosophical aspects such as the tenet of ‘acceptance’ and inspirational

quotes. A slightly larger randomized and controlled trial using the 8-week MBSR-

based mindfulness intervention involved 75 patients suffering from Irritable Bowel

Syndrome (IBS) (Gaylord et al., 2011). Measured using the FFMQ, the mindfulness

group showed reduced IBS severity, improved quality of life and reduced distress

both post-test and three months later.

Interventions

The MBSR course encompasses eight weeks of two and a half hour group

classes with a retreat day in the sixth week. It involves: learning breathing

meditations; the principles of ‘body scan’; gentle mindful yoga movements; eating

meditation; and walking meditation. Participants are encouraged to assign 45 minutes

daily to home practice. These requirements are designed to bring participants into the

present moment to be aware of their primary suffering, anxiety or stress and learn to

disassociate from the ruminative or reactive thoughts that accompany chronic

suffering described in the course as “secondary suffering” (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Baer,

Samuel and Lykins (2011) suggest that the FFMQ is a suitable questionnaire for use

with the MBSR. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, &

  6 

Teasdale, 2002) was developed from MBSR and is very similar in format but with a

stronger emphasis on treating depression and rumination. MBCT has been shown to

be an effective treatment for chronic depression and, as a result, has been available on

the NHS since 2004 for sufferers with three or more relapses (NICE, 2010).

Mindfulness in education

As mentioned above, there are initiatives underway investigating spirituality

and meditation within music education and some educators in America have become

interested in utilizing child-centered modified MBSR courses for use in the general

classroom. The Garrison Institute Report (2005) discovered projects such as the

“Wellness Works in Schools” program for middle schools (Desmond, 2009), “Inner

Kids” (Flook et al., 2010) and “Attention Academy” in elementary schools (Napoli,

Krech, & Holley, 2005). In one example, teaching mindfulness to

adolescents with learning difficulties significantly improved academic performance

and learning outcomes (Beauchemin, Hutchins, & Patterson, 2008). The impact on

education in America has generated a yearly Mindfulness in Education conference

series which started in 2008 to enhance teachers’ lives as well as their students. A

recent keynote speech by U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan at the 7th ‘Mindful Nation

Movement’ conference (2014) outlined how mindfulness in education is coming to

the notice of policy makers in America2.

In the UK, the Oxford Mindfulness Centre (OMC), part of Oxford

University’s Psychology Department, and the Well-being Institute at Cambridge

University are currently collaborating on the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP).

Their “stop, breathe” (.b) program, another MBSR style intervention, has been

specifically designed for UK school children and initial research has demonstrated a

  7 

positive outcome for the self-perceived well-being of male adolescents (Huppert &

Johnson, 2010) and positive changes in behaviour, academic productivity and

performance in mixed gender schools (Hennelly, 2011; Kuyken et al., 2013). It has

been suggested that mindfulness training should also be included in initial teacher

training in the UK (Stewart, 2014). Chris Cullen, co-founder of the MiSP initiative,

specifically modified the MBSR and MBCT interventions into a course for student

musicians at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK (personal

communication). The impact of this course on student musicians’ (including singers’)

well-being and musical performance was investigated by Hribar (2012). Hribar’s

results showed a significant correlation between mindfulness training and well-being,

positive emotion, life satisfaction and levels of trait mindfulness. There was a

decrease in perceived stress and symptoms of depression, and although no change in

symptoms of anxiety was observed, a beneficial effect was seen in the students’

mechanisms of dealing with music performance anxiety. A quasi-experimental

intervention study (Steyn, 2013) using an amalgamation of sports inspired

psychological skills training (PST) and mindfulness, acceptance and commitment

therapy (MAC) was employed with 36 university music students to investigate the

impact on their well-being and ability to deal with music performance anxiety (MPA).

The study employed nine measures including the FFMQ. It showed significant

improvements in the facets of Describe and Non-Judge, lower anxiety, greater levels

of self-confidence, concentration, relaxation and motivation levels as well as more

positive relations with others and the lowering of competitive state anxiety. A recent

meta-analysis of music and mindfulness investigations (de la Cruz & Rodríguez-

Carvajal, 2014) suggests that this field of study is ripe for research.

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Mindfulness for Singers

There is currently no research investigating mindfulness purely for singers but

research in other areas suggests that learning mindfulness techniques could be of great

benefit. The discovery by Farb, Segal and Anderson (2013) of more intense sensory

acuity and interception (awareness of inner-body stimuli) in the mindfulness group in

their research could explain why Fruzzetti and Erikson (2009) believe that increased

body and breathing awareness of mindfulness facilitates learning new skills. This

could be of particular use for singers where breathing and micro-muscular awareness

is paramount for learning and maintaining good singing technique. Other research has

shown that mindfulness students cultivated better attention in lessons (Hennelly,

2011) and a better working memory enabling them to remember new sensations and

sounds after the lessons had ended (Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010).

This could also apply to those in singing lessons. Furthermore, Bishop et al. suggest

that “mindfulness can be considered a metacognitive skill” (2004, p.233) and Hallam

(2001) proposes that metacognitive skills are essential for strategic problem solving,

evaluating learning outcomes, and developing practice skills such as time

management to ensure excellence as music students and performers. It would thus be

valuable to explore whether teaching mindfulness to voice students would change or

develop their behaviour and thought processes (e.g. practice habits). Encouraging

students to be reflective and not reactive through mindfulness training can help with

the fear of learning something new (Creswell, Way, Eisenberger, & Lieberman, 2007)

which could facilitate learning new vocal techniques. Being reflective and not

reactive can also help develop better relationships with the teacher (Huppert &

Johnson, 2010).

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The aim of the current intervention study was to develop a novel mindfulness

course for singers and explore its effects on experiences of learning vocal technique.

The philosophy underpinning the teaching and learning approaches in the MfS course

and which guided the selection of material and instructional methods was not to teach

singing but to enhance and complement formal singing lessons by teaching

mindfulness in a relevant way for students studying voice in a University setting.

Teaching methods included group discussion, lecture format, handouts, audio

examples, practical exercises, daily practice and performance opportunities.

For the student singers, the study involved a pre- and post-test questionnaire

(FFMQ), participation in the Mindfulness for Singers course (MfS) followed by semi-

structured one-to-one interviews. It also involved the student participants’ teachers in

a blind control design to investigate any outward effects observable by non-

mindfulness practitioners. It was predicted that taking part in the course would

positively affect experiences of learning singing technique by promoting increased

concentration and attentiveness in lessons and developing present moment awareness

of the physical sensations of singing. The study also sought to explore other

additional effects on practice and performance.

Method

Eight university voice majors (female n=6, male n=2, mean age=20.25, SD=1.49)

were recruited via posters and emailing lists. There was 100% attendance for the tests,

course and interviews. The participants’ vocal teachers3 (n=4, all female) were

invited to participate in the blind study. The FFMQ (Baer et al., 2006) was

administered pre- and post-intervention. The Mindfulness for Singers (MfS) course is

a short form of the MBSR (Kabat-Zinn, 1990) and MBCT (Segal et al., 2002;

  10 

Williams & Penman, 2011) courses specifically tailored for singers by the first author

who is both an experienced mindfulness practitioner and singing teacher. The course

consisted of eight weekly one-hour sessions, and covered the main areas found in a

mindfulness course, such as walking and eating awareness but exclude the kindly

awareness practice4. Specifically for singers, the subject of breathing awareness was

included with the suggestion to develop this into each singing breath; mindful

movement had an emphasis on yoga moves useful for singers’ posture and breathing;

the concept of primary and secondary suffering was introduced with reference to and

experiencing criticism and judgement from others and oneself; and body scans

included a focus on sensations in those areas used in singing such as the abdomen, the

back and facial/neck areas. A 10-minute daily practice regime and a weekly task was

also set (see Appendix A for an overview of the course5). Participants had the

possibility to ask questions about the course, the mindful practice and its application

to their own vocal studies. Participants were provided with both written and verbal

mindfulness practice instructions. All course resources were made available on a

specially designed website for the purpose and duration of the course. In the week

after the course had ended, all participants completed the post-course FFMQ, took

part in one-to-one interviews with the first author and were given their

reimbursement. The interview, lasting between 15 and 30 minutes, asked participants

about their general experience of doing the course; experience of home practice; the

effect of doing mindfulness exercises on singing lessons, voice practice, learning

singing technique, teacher/student relations, pre-performance nerves, creativity, and

post-performance criticism; and the impact the course may have had on daily life in

general.

The participants’ singing teachers were interviewed for 10 to 15 minutes at the

  11 

end of the course. The first interview question asked them if they were able to

determine which of their students had taken the mindfulness course. If the participants

were correctly identified, the teacher was asked in what way their students had

changed. If the participant was not identified, their name, or names were revealed and

the opinion of the teacher was sought in hindsight. Interview data were analysed

following the principles of thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Ethical

clearance was gained from the University’s Faculty Research Ethics Committee

(PVAR12-009) and pseudonyms used in results to ensure anonymity. Below we

present the FFMQ results for participants combined and individually, followed by the

interview data from the participants and teachers.

Results and discussion

Participants completed the FFMQ at the beginning and end of the course. This

quantitative measure was used to identify general trends in levels of mindfulness as a

result of the intervention study. Table 1 shows the pre- and post- mean scores for the

five facets for all participants combined. Data show an increase for all five

mindfulness facets across the course of the study; this was particularly noticeable for

the Non-Judge and Non-React facets. Unfortunately, due to the small sample size, it

was not possible to run paired sample t-tests to explore statistical significance.

Table 1: Pre- and Post-FFMQ mean scores for all participants

Mindfulness

Facet

Pre-

Mean (SD)

Post

Mean (SD)

Observe 26.88(3.44) 28.38(1.99) Describe 26.25(4.74) 28.38(5.12) Aware 24.25(3.49) 25.38(2.07) Non-judge 21.63(4.78) 26.50(5.90) Non-react 17.38(2.50) 22.38(2.67)

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The Observe facet in the FFMQ is characterised by statements such as “When

I’m walking, I deliberately notice the sensations of my body moving.” It covers the

awareness of information picked up by the senses from the participant’s surroundings

and the effect they have on the body or mind. Five participants’ scores increased,

Grace remained static whereas the scores of Jim and Pippa decreased slightly over the

period of the intervention. However, Jim verbalised an increase in observation when

singing, “I’ve just been more aware of how I'm sounding and what things feel,

sensation-wise.” The FFMQ statements may not have suggested an improvement in

this area to Jim as it questioned general living rather than singing specifically. This is

clear when he commented that the course had affected his mindfulness skills in

singing but “probably not in daily life.”

Figure 1. FFMQ individual participant scores – Observe facet.

The Describe facet is characterised by statements such as “I’m good at finding

words to describe my feelings.” It covers the ability to describe beliefs, opinions,

emotions, sensations and experiences clearly. Jim’s score decreased over the

intervention although he stated the mindfulness course was helping in this area:

I get very stuck with words … and the phone I don't like because you can lose body language and eye contact…mindfulness helps and has helped and will continue to help.

It is possible that the mindfulness course made Jim more aware of this as a

problem, which is why his score decreased. However, most of the participants had a

small rise over the course of the intervention with Joni’s score increasing the most.

She felt being a more mindful singer had helped her when coaching a group of a

cappella singers, describing and explaining how and why breathing exercises helped

  13 

them to be better singers.

Figure 2. FFMQ individual participant scores – Describe facet.

The Act with Awareness facet is characterised by statements such as “When I

do things, my mind wanders off and I’m easily distracted.” It covers aspects of

attention and focus in tasks such as being on autopilot, daydreaming or rushing

through undertakings. Most of the participants, like the music students in Hribar

(2012), described a variety of self-perceived awareness improvements even though

the results from the FFMQ measure showed the least increase in this area. For

example, four participants (Jim, Claire, Peter and Roxie) reported during interview

that developing better awareness had helped them in physical terms as a singer even

though Peter and Roxie had no FFMQ measure score change over the intervention

and Claire’s score decreased. Claire said that she was now more aware of unnecessary

tensions in her body, which she was able to relax through the mindfulness exercises,

to improve vocal tone and develop more effective abdominal muscular control.

Figure 3. FFMQ individual participant scores – Act with Awareness facet.

The Non-React facet is characterised by statements such as “I perceive my

feelings and emotions without having to react to them.” It covers aspects such as

pausing or watching distressing thoughts, emotions, feelings or images and being

calm before reacting6. All the participants except Joni improved in this facet over the

duration of the mindfulness course according to the score results from the FFMQ

measure. This facet was mainly explored by the participants when talking about

  14 

receiving criticism. Some of the participants perceived critical feedback as a personal

attack stating that they sometimes blew it out of proportion or applied something else

to what was being said. After doing the mindfulness exercises, most of the

participants reported being less defensive, less offended, less upset and more

accepting of criticism. Claire had the greatest Non-React score increase and said that

after doing the mindfulness course, “I was able to not get really upset. I was able to

take it on board” and, like some of the participants in the MiSP programme

(Hennelly, 2011), described herself as now being more “rational.” Roxie and Pippa

perceived this as being one of the major benefits of doing the mindfulness course.

Figure 4. FFMQ individual participant scores – Non-react facet.

The Non-Judge facet is characterised by statements such as “I criticize myself

for having irrational or inappropriate emotions.” It covers aspects of self-judgment

when emotions or thoughts are perceived as good or bad followed by mental

selfchastisement. Apart from Joni, whose score remained stable, all the participants

increased their Non-Judge results over the course of the intervention. Grace improved

the most and mentioned the effect in her singing lessons.

I always judge how my singing lessons went by how I feel after it so if I come out, "yeah, that was a really good lesson," it's usually when I've done the mindfulness before.

Mary and Peter would self-criticize for making mistakes but found they were

less negatively self-judgmental during performances after the mindfulness exercises.

Roxie projected her fears in the imagined voice of her teacher but the mindfulness

course helped her see the situation more clearly making her ‘freer’ in lessons. Pippa

found few aspects of the mindfulness course to help her as a singer but she said “I

  15 

think it's had more impact on not thinking so negatively about things,” which helped

her in other parts of her life.

Figure 5. FFMQ individual participant scores – Non-judge facet.

Interview results

The aim of the research was to discover the effects of participating in a mindfulness

course on experiences of learning vocal technique. Five of the participants studied

vocal technique during the course of the intervention. The remaining three were

engaged in preparing for their final recital that semester but had studied technique

extensively and were asked for their opinion. Participants reported effects from doing

mindfulness exercises in a variety of vocal learning activities. In the area of learning

new technique, main themes included effects on learning breathing techniques,

awareness of body and muscular sensation and in combining techniques for

performance. Participants also found changes in the experience of being in lessons

and their relationship with the teacher. In their singing practice experience, the main

theme was ‘being in the zone’ which influenced quality and length of practice.

Learning new techniques

In the same term that they participated in the mindfulness course, five of the

participants (Jim, Claire, Grace, Peter and Roxie) studied western classical style

singing technique in lessons, namely, breathing techniques; vocal sound, tone and text

techniques; and combining vocal techniques. We address these in turn here.

Firstly breathing techniques. Jim, Grace, Claire and Peter all worked on

breathing techniques and experienced a variety of effects from doing the mindfulness

  16 

exercises. Breathing techniques in singing include efficient and expansive inhalation

followed by vocal support, or more specifically, fine control of the abdominal and

intercostal musculature to produce optimum air pressure for connected, free

production of tonal sound and desired pitching (Leanderson & Sundberg, 1988;

Sundberg, 1992). A mastery of fine breath control is needed for excellent singing and

every mindful exercise has breathing awareness at its core (Elliott, 2010). All

participants said they used mindfulness exercises before some or all of their singing

lessons. Mindful Movement is particularly useful as it encompasses posture,

breathing, and gentle shoulder and neck stretches but, as is discussed below, some

participants found other exercises suited them better. Jim felt that doing the

mindfulness exercises before lessons helped him to focus and concentrate on the

musculature he uses for breathing. This made it easier and quicker for him to identify

anything that felt wrong, change it and gain success in this area of technique. Jim, in

particular, was pleased that his teacher had become satisfied with his breathing

technique over the duration of the intervention saying: “I think mindfulness has

certainly helped me sort that side out, definitely.” Claire found the Body Scan helped

during new technical work on vocal abdominal breath support. She described how

different parts of her body tingled when she settled her mind on them during the Body

Scan. This meant that when singing she was able to be conscious of her muscles and

reported being “aware of them working.” Grace also found that employing

mindfulness exercises increased her awareness of the specific musculature involved in

learning new abdominal breath support techniques because “what I'd done in the

lesson was more memorable.” Jim found that being more mindful enabled him to

have a clearer memory of a new sensation and this made it easier for him to recall it

later:

  17 

The hardest thing, I think, is knowing when it's right. When you're alert and knowing when you've got it right, being more aware in the lesson of the moment when you do get it right makes it easier.

It seemed that mindfulness exercises not only allowed the participants to learn

technique in the lessons more easily and memorably but also to apply it more

effectively. Mary, like Pippa, was not currently working on singing skills but as an

experienced voice student she was asked for her opinion on the effects of mindfulness

in learning technique. She hypothesized that, “after a Body Scan, you’re so aware of

all the different bits (vocal principles)… you’d be able to apply it (new singing

technique) more easily having just isolated all those different bits.” The Body Scan

was specifically adapted for the MfS course to enhance awareness of sensations in the

vocal principles (e.g. the tongue, jaw, abdominal muscles) as well as general bodily

awareness. Peter mentioned that after doing Mindful Movement and Breathing

exercises he was more aware of the sensations of correct abdominal support in

lessons. He was now able to take his new technique “outside of singing lessons”

suggesting that doing the mindfulness exercises before technique instruction had also

helped him to remember new sensations more clearly, control them and apply them

more effectively in other singing situations. Claire had a particular problem of

extraneous tensions when singing. Being aware of minute physical musculature

sensation changes is essential when learning to support the out-breath during

abdominal support singing because too much or too little air pressure can strangle the

voice with unnecessary strain. The Body Scan and Yoga exercises are designed to

heighten awareness of extraneous and unnecessary tensions when lying down or in a

pose. Claire employed the same skills learnt in those exercises, identifying and

releasing the muscles that were unnecessarily gripped or tense, when working on her

singing abdominal breath support. This helped her to use the correct musculature

  18 

healthily and freely. Claire’s experience supports the suggestion that practising

mindfulness can help retrain bad singing habits (Elliott, 2010).

Doing mindfulness exercises before learning breathing techniques in singing

lessons helped awareness of and ability to focus on body and musculature sensation,

learning better muscular control, and in remembering and applying technique in other

situations such as practice and performance and in solving issues of vocal tension.

Joni, who was also a student choral director, had to explain singing breathing

techniques to her group and found that participation in the mindfulness course had

provided in-depth knowledge of the purpose of these breathing exercises, which had

helped her in guiding others. Mindfulness breathing techniques appeared to have a

good impact on consolidating previously learnt singing breathing techniques and

passing this on to others in a teaching capacity.

A second major theme representing the effects of mindfulness on learning

singing was related to vocal sound, tone and text techniques. Jim, Peter, Roxie and

Grace all worked on their tonal sound production during the intervention. Grace found

that improving her breath support helped control her vocal tone and that the

mindfulness exercises had enabled improved awareness of tonal errors. Peter was

working on the tonal quality of his range and found that he was more mindful of the

sound he was making which helped him to perform better after completing the

mindfulness exercises. It can be difficult to hear one’s own tonal development clearly

but doing the mindfulness techniques appeared to help raise both these participants’

awareness of their vocal sound quality. Jim found that the mindfulness exercises had

helped him become more aware of his vocal sound and vowel shaping from a

communication point of view, following criticism for a lack of clarity in his mock

final year recital. He found that he was able to become increasingly aware of his

  19 

sound colour in respect to word painting and became more effective at conveying

emotion when singing. Doing mindfulness exercises before lessons seemed to help

participants be aware of and improve their vocal sound, tone colour and text

communication.

The third theme explores the effects of the MfS course on combining vocal

techniques. Singing a song is a highly complex task and requires a large amount of

simultaneous action and awareness. Jim found that when learning singing techniques

that “there’s a lot to think about” and Grace mentioned “it's working on remembering

to bring them all together, doing them all at the same time.” Unlike Jim who

practised mindfulness before every lesson and Grace who managed it before most

lessons, Roxie admitted to doing exercises only before a few. She seems to have had

limited success in improving her attention, which, she believes, was more dependent

on her mood and on “whether I was awake or not.” Huppert and Johnson (2010)

found that more practice correlated with increased mindfulness skills, a possible

explanation for Roxie finding less success than the participants who practised more.

Grace, like the other participants working on singing technique, seemed to find that

doing mindfulness exercises prior to singing lessons and practices most helpful in

learning, remembering and practically implementing all the various aspects of singing

technique in a variety of situations and saw a great benefit in doing the exercises

when combining new vocal techniques.

Singing lessons and relationships

Every participant managed to do the mindfulness exercises before some or all lessons

during the period of the course. Pippa, Joni and Claire felt that the act of taking 10

minutes in mindful preparation calmed and focused them and seemed to separate their

  20 

singing lesson from other tasks in the day. Joni’s teacher mentioned that she found her

more settled in lessons. All the participants commented that they felt more aware,

focused, concentrated or alert in their singing lesson after doing mindfulness

exercises. Claire said she felt more relaxed and less stressed within lessons,

something that Claire’s teacher noticed. Mary felt she was “more receptive in terms of

what she’s (her teacher’s) saying,” and their relationship was calmer. Peter felt more

relaxed, less stressed and more aware of his own voice and the teacher’s examples.

Roxie’s teacher found she had become less impatient and listened better and Roxie

discovered she was less likely to “go off task” and just chat. Peter and Grace

experienced an effect after a mindfully prepared lesson had ended. Peter thought more

about what had happened within the lesson afterwards and Grace felt that the

mindfulness helped her to have a productive lesson making her feel more positive.

This encouraged her to practise more constructively during the week.

Doing mindfulness exercises before their singing lessons helped students to

prepare, be more aware and productive within the lesson and retain information more

effectively for practice purposes. These are all elements of “self-responsibility”, a

student quality prized by teachers but suggested lacking by Gaunt (2008) in research

looking at relationships between students and teachers in a one-to-one situation at the

GSMD. These elements seem to have been enhanced here by mindfulness training.

Mindfulness in singing practice

The participants were asked if the mindfulness exercises they were encouraged to do

prior to their singing practice had had any effects. Five participants felt it had helped

them to get into what Joni termed, the “zone of practising,” where they were readier

than normal to practise and more focused, which was echoed by the students at the

  21 

music conservatoire in Hribar (2012). Like those students, Jim, Claire and Grace

described their singing practices after doing the mindfulness exercises as more

productive and effective. Jim and Claire found this increased productivity had

encouraged practice sessions to become longer. For Claire, this was because practice

had become less monotonous as she was more focused and her teacher also noted this

extra practice. Conversely, Grace found that her practice time had become shorter due

to better productivity. Roxie and Jim found their awareness of practice changed at a

deeper level; for example, Roxie noted:

I was more aware of what I was doing but, at the same time, it's how I did it before, but being more aware of doing it, if that makes sense.

Jim described this same awareness as making his practice and work on

technique more successful. Conversely, Peter changed the way he organised his

singing practice. Sometimes he did not sing at all but was inspired to think deeply

about the interpretation of his repertoire. This was reflected in positive comments

from his performance classes “in terms of interpretation as opposed to just sound”.

Other effects were more participant specific. Roxie found the mindfulness exercises

helped relieve her shoulder and neck stiffness thus aiding her concentration in singing

practice. Grace had a “bad practice day” and used mindfulness breathing exercises to

help her focus with the effect that “I didn't necessarily have the best practice after it

but I was able to practise”. Peter was self-conscious practising in the School but doing

the mindfulness exercises helped his concentration and creativity in practice reducing

the fear of peer criticism and his final comment was “I think in all my practices it’s

been really effective.”

Teacher study

  22 

All teacher participants (Tosca, Carmen, Mimi, Brünnhilde) were asked to name

which of their University voice students (combined total number of students taught by

these teachers at the institution, n=32) they thought might have done the mindfulness

course based on nothing but information about mindfulness research and the

hypothesis of what might occur in students as a result of doing the course. The

teachers correctly named 6 of the 8 participants.

Tosca (total number of students taught at the institution n=8) identified Grace

based on her behaviour change and technical success. Carmen (total students n=9)

identified Mary based on her development of stress management over the course of

the intervention. Mimi (total students n=7) chose two students who were not

participants with a third possible candidate being Claire. Claire expected this saying

“My singing teacher has noticed that I'm a lot more relaxed and I don't look as

stressed anymore.” Mimi had initially chosen two others because she thought that

Claire had started taking anti-depressant pills, though Claire did not mention this at

any point in her interview. The teacher observed that Claire’s “change has been

phenomenal” which tallies which Claire’s own evaluations; she apportioned all her

improvements to the mindfulness course. Mimi did not identify Jim but he did have

the highest pre- and post-intervention mindfulness scores so his observable change

may not have been so obvious. Brünnhilde (total students n=8) correctly identified

Pippa, Roxie and Joni but not Peter. Pippa seemed more attentive and quieter, Roxie

would suddenly “step back and seem to be listening” instead of rushing through the

lesson impatiently. A similar effect has been found in school studies in both America

and Britain (Desmond, 2009; Hennelly, 2011) where teachers had noticed

attentiveness and listening both increased after mindfulness classes. Initially, Joni had

been very self-critical and had found it hard to settle in lessons but over the

  23 

intervention Brünnhilde said she had become “a little more relaxed, taking time.”

However, Peter had always seemed attentive and his behaviour did not appear to have

changed; this was confirmed by the FFMQ scores. Neither Peter nor Jim were

identified by teachers which is a finding comparable to research by Flook et al.,

(2010) in which participants who demonstrated better executive function skills (e.g.

planning, time management skills) pre-intervention showed less improvement post-

mindfulness training.

General Discussion

There are few projects researching the effects of mindfulness on musicians’

performance and wellbeing (de la Cruz & Rodríguez-Carvajal, 2014; Hribar, 2012;

Steyn, 2013). This research project, utilising a newly developed eight-week

Mindfulness for Singers (MfS) course is, to date, the first known to explore the effects

of mindfulness on vocalists in a learning context. Its primary aim was to explore the

effects of the intervention course on participants’ ability to learn singing technique.

Five of the participants studied singing technique during the intervention, working on

breathing and breath support, developing tone, sound colour, text communication and

combining individual vocal principle technical mastery into a cohesive whole. These

participants reported they had experienced to a greater or lesser extent, a variety of

benefits from the course and the mindful home practice exercises. They developed

improved focus and concentration in lessons and practice sessions, better memory of

physical muscular sensations and a greater ability to apply new learning more

effectively and efficiently. The reason for these benefits seems to stem from the

mindfulness training, which enabled them to become more self-aware physically and

aurally in the present moment. Participants in the current study became progressively

  24 

aware of unnecessary vocal or physical tension and more capable of retraining bad

singing habits and solving technical problems. Increasing awareness also seemed to

help them consolidate previously learnt technique and be able to transmit this

information to others in a teaching capacity.

After doing the mindfulness exercises, participants found their mindset for

lessons and private practice was improved, an effect also observed by their teachers.

They felt better prepared for the lesson, increasingly receptive of comments and

examples from the teacher and, after a more effective and productive session, they felt

more positive. Most participants found their private singing practice became

increasingly effective, productive, focused and, in one case, new and creative working

methods were developed in response to having greater awareness. Additionally, it is

important to note that the mindfulness course designed for this study had positive

effects beyond the participant’s singing activities on their general life and well-being

in the areas of stress-control, sleep issues and personal relationships.

A blind study revealed that participants’ behaviour changes were observable

by non-practitioners as 6 of the 8 students were successfully identified by their

teachers as having taken part in the course. Whilst it is acknowledged that different

teachers have varying teaching styles which could have influenced participants’

progress over the eight week period, the correct identification of the majority of

participants who had taken part in the MfS course (from a possible total of 32)

suggests that the mindfulness intervention was effective. If we compare this to

previous blind control studies (there have been none relating to music, see meta-

analysis by de la Cruz & Rodríguez-Carvajal, 2014), Grepmair et al. (2007) found

that Zen meditation (a form of mindfulness) training was observable in a double blind

study involving 18 therapists and 124 psychotherapy patients. Therapists from the

  25 

meditation group gave significantly higher evaluations of their patients in the areas of

clarification and problem solving and the patients of these mindful therapists also

showed greater symptomatic reduction.

In relation to methodology, both qualitative and quantitative methods were

used to investigate the effects of the MfS course. The FFMQ was useful for

identifying general trends and the average change in scores (pre- to post-test) across

all participants was positive for all facets, with a particular increase for the Non-Judge

(similar to Steyn, 2013) and Non-React facets. However, because the number of

participants was small, it is difficult to make generalizations about the merits of the

MfS course based on the quantitative data alone. Furthermore, the FFMQ is designed

to measure general mindfulness rather than mindfulness in relation to singing.

Devising a questionnaire specifically designed to test mindfulness improvement in

musicians and singers, to be used in conjunction with the MfS course, should be a

focus for future research. The major insights in this study stemmed from the

participants’ and teachers’ interview data, and we would argue strongly that future

studies should ensure that there is a reflective qualitative component to the evaluation.

From a practical point of view, it is unlikely that singing teachers have the

time or expertise to give an 8-week mindfulness course to their students. Further

research could investigate whether similar effects are engendered by the development

of a less intensive and time-consuming intervention such as that put forward by Tang

et al. (2007). In the research by Tang et al., eight participants took part in 20 minutes

of mindful practice for five days and showed significant decreases in anxiety and

depression, and stress-related cortisol, and increases in vigour and immunoreactivity.

A study isolating the most beneficial exercises for student singers by teaching

different exercises to groups of a similar standard and experience could be valuable

  26 

for the practical application of mindfulness in singing lessons. It would also be of

benefit to explore the effects of mindfulness on a broader demographic, such as those

who rely on their voices for their livelihoods (e.g. opera singers). A targeted

questionnaire or measure specifically for musicians, as mentioned above, would

facilitate these enquiries.

The results from this study combined with those from research in mainstream

education (Garrison Institute Report, 2005; Napoli, 2004; Roeser, Skinner, Beers, &

Jennings, 2012) suggest that it would also be interesting to study the efficacy of

teaching mindfulness to new trainee singing and instrumental teachers or as a

continued professional development for experienced singing teachers. In her book on

generic teaching practices, Schoeberlein (2009) indicates that mindfulness training

could enhance reflective teaching practices, personal awareness, combat the tedium of

teaching repetitive examination repertoire and help ease the stress and strain of

teaching as well as allowing teachers to introduce the concept to their students for

their benefit. The principles outlined would also apply to singing teachers, and we

suggest that this is an area ripe for future research.

Finally, being a professional musician is a demanding profession (Gembris &

Heye, 2011; Ginsborg, Spahn, & Williamon, 2012). Results from the current study

coupled with previous research findings (Hribar, 2012; Langer, Russel, & Eisenkraft,

2009) suggest that further research exploring mindfulness with professional singers

and musicians would be useful in dealing with the stresses and strains of the

performing industry (Fishbein, Middlestadt, Ottati, Strauss, & Ellis, 1998) in helping

to control nerves, combat or eliminate repetitive strain injuries, and for enhancing

creativity in the moment on stage (Oyan, 2006).

  27 

Conclusion

Singing is a holistic activity and encompasses all life experience. It is music produced

and experienced in the most intimate way. Similarly, mindfulness is a holistic

technique, which enhances moment-by-moment awareness, helps deal with fear,

stress and anxiety and opens the practitioner in a new way to the world around him.

This study is the first to investigate mindfulness specifically for singers, and the first

to use a blind control design; it therefore makes a valuable contribution to the

emerging field of music and mindfulness, and provides direction for future work. It

has shown that mindfulness can marry beautifully and beneficially with the vocalist in

their manifestations as student, teacher or professional performer to help them achieve

their greatest potential, that of becoming a truly inspiring musician.

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Appendix A. Mindfulness for Singers. Weekly session detail.

Discussion Mindful Techniques Weekly Practice

Week 1 Autopilot Discovering the Breath Mindful Movement

Habit awareness 3 Minute Breathing Space Task: One Habit awareness

Mindful Movement

Week 2 Stress Body Scan Singers Body Scan

Body awareness Mindful Breathing Task: One Habit awareness

Habit awareness

Expectation and Reality

Being and Doing mode

Week 3 Mindfulness and Illness Mindful Yoga Mindful Breathing

Repetition Mindful Breathing Counting Task: Awareness of the pleasant

Performance nerves Mindful Breathing Journey

Primary and Secondary Suffering

Awareness of the pleasant

Week 4 Being judgemental Body Scan Mindful Movement

ABC model of emotions Mindful Food Exercise Task: Mindful

Dealing with criticism Mindful Sounds practice listening.

"Cataloguing"

Week 5 Mindful Awareness when walking Sitting Body Scan Singers Body Scan

Pre-performance nerves Mindful walk on campus Task: Mindful Walking exercise

Present moment performance creativity

Prepare 5 min song

Weeks 6+7 Performance Week Mindful Breathing Mindful Breathing

Performance nerves strategies Mindful Movement Task: Mindful Eating exercise

Creativity in performance - breathing

Taking Criticism after - breathing

Week 8 Conclusion Mindful Breathing

Full Body Scan

Yoga  

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1 The KIMS (Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004), the FMI (Buchheld, Grossman, & Walach, 2001), the 2 http://vimeo.com/89794536

 

3 As identified by participants on their registration forms.

 

4 The first author, who is not a Buddhist, was trained in secular mindfulness at a Triratna Buddhist Centre. She was aware of occasional use of religious-type content (use of Buddhist poetry, imagery, the request to use course leaders’ Buddhist names and that ‘Kindly Awareness’ practice seemed similar to CofE Intercession prayers) and took every effort to address these issues when designing the secular MfS course. As a result there was no poetry in the MfS course and imagery was confined to every day student experience. Due to time constraints and to avoid clashing with MfS participants’ potential existing belief systems, ‘Kindly Awareness’ practice was eliminated from the course. 5 A detailed overview of the development of the course can be found in Czajkowski (2013) is available

by contacting the first author, and the course is publicly available on the first author’s website www.elfsinger.co.uk. 6 One could argue that not reacting to one’s emotions is antithetical to the notion of performance. However, reacting inappropriately to mistakes on stage or too deeply to heightened emotions in performance causing possible break down is detrimental. Exploring emotions in rehearsal is important but in performance it is the job of the singer to act and react to all stimuli whilst remaining in full control. Mindfulness for Singers participants did mention performance related effects, for example, a slowing of time perception allowing them to be more creative in the areas of dynamics, expression, vocal tone and feeling in control of the performance. None of the participants commented that being mindful in performance caused them to be less musically emotional or relate less to other musicians.